Number of persons in employment in Q1 2023 up 5.3% over 2022

Labour Force Survey estimates show that, during the first quarter, total employment stood at 291,756 accounting for 63.0% of the population aged 15 and over.

Unemployed persons stood at 8,585 (1.9%) while inactive persons totalled 163,113 (35.2%).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 80.4% with the highest rate recorded among persons aged 25 to 54 (91.5%).

The employed population

On average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 and 64 years, 78 were employed.

The male employment rate for this age bracket was 83.8% while that for females stood at 71.4%.

The largest share of employed persons was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 34 years, for both males and females.

Self-employed persons accounted for 15.0% of all persons with a main job.

The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and amounted to 256,592.

A further 35,164 had a part-time job as their primary employment.

Results show that, on average, full-timers usually worked 40.6 hours while part-timers worked 21.5 hours per week.

In the first quarter of 2023, employed persons actually worked 37.4 hours per week, 0.1 hours more when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

The average monthly basic salary of employees for the first quarter of 2023 was estimated at €1,848.

The highest basic salary was recorded in the financial and insurance activities sector. Average monthly salaries varied from €1,189 among persons employed in elementary occupations to €2,995 among managers.

The unemployed and inactive population

The unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2023, stood at 2.9%. The largest share of unemployed persons was recorded among persons aged 25 to 74 years.

Females accounted for 58.3 % of total inactive persons and those over 65 years made up the highest share of the inactive.

The main reason for inactivity relates to persons reaching retirement age or taking up early retirement (42.4%).

Education attainment

More than 40% of persons aged 15 years and over had attained a low level of education (41.5%).

By contrast, 35.0% of the employed respondents enjoyed a tertiary level education.